According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of MRSA infections have doubled in just a few years from 127,000 in 1999 to over a whopping 275,000 in 2005. Those who have heard anything about MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or any other drug resistant bacteria, know that they are dangerous and lethal organisms that can cause horrifying difficult-to-treat infections in humans.  

This is especially devastating to our soldiers, who can become infected with these bacteria after being severely lacerated or wounded due to events on the battlefield. With the prospect of a new breed of drug-resistant mega-bacteria in the future, University researchers are using innovative practices to address this worldwide problem.

Assistant professor of chemistry Christian Melander and William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Molecular Structural Biochemistry John Cavanagh are two chemists who have made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of immunology and disease treatment. A new $1.8 million grant from the Department of Defense will allow the Walter Reed Institute of Research to work with the molecules created by Melander and Cavanagh in an attempt to test the effectiveness of these molecules against antibiotic resistant infections. According to Melander, this grant is going to help the University researchers take the next step in their research.

“Specifically, Walter Reed is going to be conducting animal model experiments to test the effectiveness of these molecules,” Melander said. “To my knowledge, they will be using rats as fracture models, mice, and also pigs as skin laceration models.”

The reason for the use of these different animals is because each animal is a good model for a different type of an injury or organ system in terms of the human body system, according to Melander.

“So basically, the researchers will be testing to see how effective the molecules will be when an infection is introduced into the body through different sites,” Melander said.

Melander said the researchers will be asking themselves questions such as “Are the molecules just as effective in a MRSA case that developed due to a bullet wound as compared to a burn?” and “Are these molecules more effective than the current treatments used to treat MRSA patients?”

The two and a half year study will test the molecules against several different types of drug resistant bacteria as well, including MRSA and multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, also known as MDRAB.

“These three drug-resistant infections have been, until now, practically untreatable,” Cavanagh, co-primary investigator of this study said. Melander also said this molecule was discovered during the research process of another study.

“Like in most research, you find that a lot of the things you thought would be useful, actually aren’t, and the things you don’t even expect can be greatly useful,” Melander said. “This is one of those cases.”

He elaborated on the mechanism of these molecules as well.

“We didn’t create a drug that would kill the bacteria directly. Instead, this class of molecules works on the genetic level by turning the antibiotic resistance gene off, thereby allowing the antibiotics to affect the bacteria,” Melander said.

In other words, if the molecules turn out to be effective, they will serve as a supplement to the treatment of antibiotic resistant infectious diseases so that the antibiotics would be able to work.

Faiza Mustafa, a sophomore in biological sciences, had Melander as her professor for an organic chemistry course last semester and was pleasantly surprised by his discovery.

“We learned about drug resistant bacteria and the devastation they can yield all the time in our classes, but the fact that researchers from NC State are doing something to address this problem is really impressive,” Mustafa said.

Haroon Tariq, a senior biochemistry and biological sciences double major, was interested about the discovery, especially because of the knowledge he has on the subject matter.

“Discoveries like these are rare and take a lot of hard work as well, ” Tariq said. “I hope the molecules do turn out to be effective since they will save the lives of countless individuals.”